Ch. 1: Through the Window
CHAPTER ONE
I had a lot of cousins. I still do, in fact. They didn't stop existing. They were my best friends. We would spend all day playing games, covering cookies pans with a melting slop that didn't look anything like cookies, and generally making a mess. I loved them all, but my favorite cousin was Twinkle.
She was a unicorn- still is, in fact. She used to perform tricks for me all the time, and would never tire of amusing me. She was lots of fun, but I also learned a lot from her.
She taught me about the stars.
On warm, dark Summer nights, she would take me up to the balcony, and we would spread out blankets and open up a package of store-bought cookies, and she would point out the stars and tell me their names. She would outline the constellation with a glittering spark of magic from her glowing horn and tell me the myths behind them.
She told me that all the myths were true, and of course I believed her. I believed anything anypony told me back then. She was my teacher, really. I was unusually smart for a foal my age, and I was always looking for more knowledge. She was the one who taught me how to use my magic for simple tasks- transportation and such. I owe a lot to her.
Another one of my cousins that were very special to me was Solo. He was my age, and we caused a lot of trouble together. We played pranks on everypony in the household, we made messes, and were generally just the most troublesome little things in the world. He was a pegasus, but wasn't too good at flying.
After a long day of playing and learning, I would take a long bath in one of the high-class bathrooms and head into my room to sleep. My mother would come in, and we would spend a few precious moments together, just talking, as she brushed out my mane.
She was beautiful. She had long, slender legs, and shared my coat color of dark gray, almost black. She was extremely graceful, and did everything with elegance and charm. I wanted to be just like her when I grew up.
One day, my cousins and I decided to play hide-and-seek, and I was chosen to be 'it'. I counted to fifty, and went to find them.
I was creeping down the hallway, keeping my ears alert for any giggling and light hoofsteps that would alert me to the other player's positions. I did hear laughing, but it sounded... distant, and muffled. I curiously followed the sound, and it led me to one of the many window that were covered by heavy, deep purple drapes. I pushed them out of the way and sneezed at the dust that floated off; these curtains hadn't been moved for a long time. I hoisted myself up to peer through the window, and what I saw amazed me.
There were foals playing outside. Yes, I admit with some embarrassment that I was so sheltered that I didn't know there were other ponies outside of the ones in the mansion. They were chasing each other outside over the grass, drinking in the sunshine, pegasi were testing their newly learned flight abilities by racing, unicorn foals were showing off their magic.
I watched them for a long time, resting me chin on my front hooves. I wanted to play with them. Why wasn't I allowed outside? Having forgotten that I was supposed to be looking for my cousins, I noticed it was getting late, and went to take my bath, and after that wait for my mother in my room to tell her about what I had seen.
I was sitting patiently in my bed when my mother opened the door and walked gracefully into my room. As was nightly routine, she sat down behind me and, levitating the hairbrush, began to smooth out my mane.
It was a few minutes before either of us spoke. "Who were those foals outside?" I finally asked.
The hairbrush stooped for half a second before my mother resumed brushing my mane. "What foals?" she asked in a perfectly calm voice.
"The ones outside," I replied. "The ones I saw out the window."
"Oh, they were nopony. Just some troublesome foals playing where they shouldn't."
"Could I go outside and play with them outside sometime?" I asked.
"Mmm, no," my mother replied.
"Why not?" I whined back.
"Because, you need to stay in here, where you're... safe," she said after a halt.
"I'll be careful, I promise."
My mother chuckled. "Oh course you would. You're a very good foal, Lucy. I trust you. The fact is, though, that there are mean ponies out there that would be jealous of you, and might try to hurt you."
I frowned. "Why would the be jealous of me?"
My mother lightly ruffled my mane which she had been trying for so long to untangle. "Because you're so adorable," she said. I wasn't amused.
"Don't worry, dear, you'll go out sometime when you're older," my mother said as she tucked me in. She stepped off of my bed and approached the door.
"Good night," she said as she flicked off the light.
"Night," I muttered back as she closed the door.
I didn't forget about those foals, you know. I still wanted to go see them. And I didn't buy what my mother had said would make them jealous. I began to observe what might be different about me. I still can't believe I didn't notice it earlier.
I began by looking at the obvious- coloring. At first I didn't notice anyone else besides my mother with my dark coloring, but as I watched outside, I did notice one pegasus with a dark coat and a silvery-blue mane, so I crossed that off the list. I didn't think my pale orange-striped mane was very special, so I forgot about that, too. My eyes- it couldn't be because of my eyes, could it? I wasn't sure. They were a little special, I supposed- the irises were purple-pink at the top, then faded into a pale red-orange, then orange, and finally pastel yellow. I dismissed the idea, just because it didn't satisfy me. I wasn't jealous of anyone's eyes; the thought seemed ridiculous.
I was getting increasingly frustrated that I couldn't figure it out. It went on like this for a while- I was unable to leave the house without even knowing why. It wasn't until one night- actually, it was only a few months ago- that I was looking in a mirror after a bath.
I was sitting on the edge of the tub, waiting for the water to drip out of my mane, when I noticed something... off. It had been with me subliminally for a while, I guess- I had never liked looking at my own reflection. I had never known why, though, and neither had I thought I was different because of it. I mean, it's not like I could not know I had both a horn and wings, but... I just thought that no pony else I had seen also had both.
I realized then that was why I was different.
My mother had stopped coming to my room at night to tuck me in by then, so I had to find her myself and ask her about my having both a horn and wings. I found her in her room writing on a piece of paper and confronted her.
"Why do I have a horn and wings?" I asked bluntly. She jumped in her seat- she must not have noticed me- and turned to face me.
"Oh, hello, Lucy. What did you ask?"
"I have a horn and wings. Why?"
My mother sat dumbfounded for a few seconds before putting off answering me by smoothing her mane over with her hoof. "Well, dear, it's... complicated."
"That's why I wasn't allowed to leave, wasn't it?"
"...Yes, dear, it is. See, being an alicorn- that's what you're called- is not a common occurrence. In fact, there are only three living at the moment. You would, if you were seen in public, be made fun of and ridiculed- at the least. It's for your safety that I'm keeping you here."
I stared at my mother for a few seconds before stomping away.
Me and my bad luck.
Ch. 2: Things are Cleared Up
Chapter Two
Things are Cleared Up
That's my back story. Yes, I know, it's not that interesting, and I don't have much of an eloquent tongue, but I'm no storyteller, and, in my defense, there wasn't much of a story to tell up to that point.
Since then, I have sprouted up 'like a weed', as my aunts call it, taking for granted that I know what a weed is, even though, of course, I've never been outside, where I suspect it is. I'm pretty sure it's some sort of plant, and one that no one likes nonetheless, and that makes me all the more frustrated.
Anyway, I've learned a little since then; my dark coat makes it easy for me to blend in with shadows behind doors as my uncles and grandfathers talk about me and my coming about, and it all has to do with genetics.
I don't understand DNA structures or what goes on in the blood under my skin, nor do I know if they're actually even related to genetics, but I've pieced together enough to at least brush against understanding of why I am.
See, it turns out, I was not a chance being; I wasn't an accident, a slur of chemistry and genes that mutated or carried over more than the usual number of traits. I was planned, carefully calculated, for years; generation after generation crossing, mixing, letting certain ponies into their circle of trust, and even family. From what I've heard, if you can get the right combination of genes, the unborn foal will develop both wings and a horn- a feat both remarkable and simple.
This is one of the reasons it's a big deal my father died, even though no one speaks of it. This whole gene mess started with my who-knows-how-many-greats-grandfather, who, for whatever reason, decided he needed one of his descendants to be an alicorn. He began an advanced study of the chemistry of ponies' genes and, after years, had a diagram, a tree, the branches receeding down and down until there was the trunk at the bottom. At the base of the tree was an illustrated silhouette of a pony. That filly was me.
He chose for himself a trustworthy mare who had the suitable genes and took her as his wife. I don't know how he managed it, be he eventually gathered together other pairs, who's children would hopefully have the needed molecular structure in them to pass down more correct genes, and so on. Of course, once it got down to me, there were very few that could actually reproduce an alicorn at least somewhat consistently; in fact, the only two were my mother and father. I was, until my father died, dispensable; if anything happened to me, they could have a new alicorn in a year or so.
That all changed when my father died, of course. Years of careful breeding and matchmaking would be down the drain if I died, so of course I was kept indoors, away from prying eyes and danger.
It's funny, but I never did get especially angry at my plight. I hated my mother, and for no real reason now that I think about it, but I never once though of escaping until one night I heard my uncles talking over cigars and cards one night.
"...Nice Summer night, eh?" one of them had remarked as he look over his cards fanned out in his hooves.
"Sure is," remarked another. "I hear that the Moonflowers open up around now."
Another scratched behind his ear. "Heh, where'd ya' hear that? And, more importantly, why would ya' care about some frilly little flowers?"
The second stallion shrugged. "They ain't frilly, ya' know. They're blue and they glow. And anyway, I heard it from some o' the guys down in town. 'Parently, it's some o' the most specialized and bravest ponies who hafta get 'em. See, they only open at the night, and when they're not open, they recede into the ground."
"So what?" the first asks. "You just gotta take a flashlight and find 'em, no big deal."
"Maybe there wouldn't be," the second replies as he lays some cards on the table, "if they didn't grow only in the Everfree forest."
The other two paused for a second before shaking their heads.
"Foals, that's what they are." the third said scornfully. "Goin' into the Everfree forest at night. Who do they think they are, anyway?"
"Well, they are members of the Royal Guard-," the second began before being cut off by the stares of the other two. Apparently he had offended the other two, as he lay his ears back and blushed the slightest bit.
"Uh, I mean, not members of the Royal Guard. It's... somepony else." he finally finished lamely.
I stayed hidden on the other side of the doorway for some time after, but they played the rest of the game in silence, and hearing only the slipping and ruffling of cards being put in play didn't much appeal to me. In fact, after what I heard, nothing at all seemed to tickle my fancy; and, seeing how I should have been in bed now anyway, I couldn't find something that would attract attention to myself to do, so I wandered away down the hallway.
I perked my head up when I saw the drapes of one of the many windows billowing lightly; wondering what it was, I made my way over to it to find out.
That's funny, someone opened a window, I thought as I pushed the drapes out of my way to look outside. I don't know exactly what happened, but feeling the summer breeze, the first natural zephyr to ever ripple over my coat, made something in my heart stir. It was a longing to be outside, to be free. I could smell the aroma of flowers and trees and running water, and decided that I would sneak outside.